Pierce, Celtics top Warriors

BOSTON - Paul Pierce scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds and the Boston Celtics put the shackles on Stephen Curry, in a 94-86 victory over the Golden State Warriors Friday night.

Returning from their longest road trip of the season, the Celtics won their eighth straight home game and improved to 11-3 since Rajon Rondo was lost for the season to a knee injury.

The Warriors, who beat the Celtics in Oakland Dec. 29, lost for the ninth time in their last 12 games. The Warriors have lost three straight and are 1-3 in the first four games of a five-game road trip.

Curry, coming off a 54-point game in a loss at the New York Knicks Wednesday night, was hounded by Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee and whoever else was anywhere near him. After going 32 for 48 from the floor, including 18 for 23 from 3-point range for 92 points in the last two games (both road losses), Curry scored 25 points. He was just 6 for 22 from the floor, including 3 for 11 from behind the 3-point line. He did go 10 for 10 from the foul line.

Harrison Barnes scored 16 and Klay Thompson had 15 for Golden State, which got 19 points and 10 rebounds from David Lee, who returned from a one-game league suspension for being involved in a fight.

Jeff Green added 18 points for the Celtics.

In his big game in New York, Curry scored four points in the first quarter but then had 22 in the second. Friday night, his only point of the first 11 minutes came on a free throw off the first of two Boston defensive three-second technical fouls in the first half.

Curry drained a three and two free throws in the final 59 seconds of the quarter and wound up with 16 in the first half. He had only two free throws in the third quarter, going 0 for 4 from the floor.

The Celtics used a 9-0 run to go up by nine with 3:39 left in the first quarter and ballooned the lead to 13 with 23.4 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Warriors managed to knock the deficit down to one with 3:33 left in the half. The Celtics got the lead back to seven before leading by four at the break.

Golden State pulled in front in the third quarter but never by more than two points and the game was tied at 60-60 when the Celtics had another 9-0 run over a 1:50 span. Green hit two jumpers during the run.

Earlier in the quarter, Green hit the floor hard during a charge and he stayed down for several minutes. But he was fine.

The teams combined to go 8 for 38 from 3-point range.

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NOTES: The Celtics had a different roster than the one that was present for Boston's previous home game. Swingman Terrence Williams, whose 10-day contract was ending, signed for the rest of the season with a non-guaranteed year also reportedly part of the deal. Frontcourt men DJ White (signed on the trip) and Shavlik Randolph were both in a Celtics uniform for the first time and guard Jordan Crawford, acquired from the Washington Wizards, also made his home debut. Williams, White and Randolph all came back from China, with Williams debuting on the road trip.